I've noticed, especially since I've started posting here, that most Blaylock readers have certain eccentricities. I often wonder if these eccentricities heighten a person’s enjoyment of Blaylockian, or other not-so mainstreamish, type stories where as the non-eccentric fail to see the same beauty or even to have the same understanding...

Some of my eccentricities may or may not include:

A certain (some times passionate) impulsiveness, such as deciding to take a trip to the beach, which is over 100 miles away, at 1:00 in the morning in a borrowed car because of a heavy rain storm that carries with it a desperate longing for the sea.

A particular weakness for wind up wall clocks.

A real zest for writing bad poetry (although I have yet to tackle the subject of cheese, which makes me wonder if this would qualify).

I’ve been told that my decorating tastes run a bit odd, although I don’t think that my collection of reproduction religious artifacts (budda heads, russian icons, southeast asian statues of gods, etc.) that are located throughout my house are really all that strange.

The same goes for my collection of books on the strange and unusual (reproductions of witch hunting guides, 50’s books on witchcraft, several obscure and not-so-obscure books on mythology and magic, etc); I really don’t think it’s all that odd, other than the fact that I keep them all by themselves on a bookshelf in the dining room.

I have a thing about movies; if it’s a movie that I am really looking forward to, I absolutely HAVE to go alone to see it. Too often having someone sitting right next to me can yank me back to reality, as they make a comment, or even cough… Although that probably makes me a loner more than it makes me eccentric.

I drink coffee at the office almost non-stop during the mornings, even though it’s not particularly good coffee. At home however, I can’t drink coffee unless it’s made from fresh ground beans (preferably those I’ve roasted myself), and made in one of several press-pots I own. I don’t know why but I can’t seem to drink drip coffee at home anymore. That’s a stretch… I’m sure a lot of people are particular about their coffee.

I bought a clay pipe many years ago, because I thought it would be fun to try (no doubt inspired by our man Blaylock). I keep it on my mantle, or on a bookshelf; somehwere in plain sight. The thing is, that I’ve never smoked it. I just like to have it around in case I do decide to someday.

Vintage suitcases. I can't get enough of them. For whatever reason, anytime I see one for sale or sitting by the side of the road, abandoned, I can't help but make it my own. I've got so many of them that I've had to make furniture out of them, because I don't have any more closet space. There are four of them stacked on top of each other and they serve as an end table. There are two in a corner, balancing on their ends, and they serve as a pedestal for one of my plants. I've got one under the bed that I keep scarves in, another in my closet that store purses. I've got four or five above my closet in storage that I keep things like, old picture frames and love letters, in. Maybe I am preparing to go on a fantastic adventure one day. Who knows? When I eat a sandwich, all sandwich contents must be inside of the sandwich casings. I can't have lettuce hanging off the edge or a corner of cheese peeking out. I often have to dissect the sandwich and put it back together more neatly.I must smell everything before I eat it.I have to walk on the left side of people. My boyfriend is deaf in his right ear and I've been walking on his left side for so long now that I feel uncomfortable walking on the right side of anyone. I always have to switch sides if I end up on the right.I have a compulsive cleaning thing but that's not really eccentric, it's more like OCD.I sing to my cats. Not real songs but ones that I make up.When I'm thinking about something I absent-mindedly run my index finger over my bottom lip, back and forth very gently.I twirl my hair in knots when I watch TV.I have to shave my legs everyday, anything but smooth legs makes me crazy.I have a thing with my feet; I can't have any rough spots on them, which, living in New York City has made that extremely difficult.I often run errands in my pajamas if it's early in the morning or late at night.One of my favorite things to do in the summer is to put together jigsaw puzzles while only in my underwear.In the winter I have to sleep with multiple comforters on the bed. I like the weight of them while I sleep.When it's cold out I like to drive with the windows halfway down and the heat on.I can't eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without cheese dorritos and coca-cola.Well, there's probably more but that seems like enough.

I can't write with a pencil if it doesn't have a needle sharp point. I keep all the card backs AND twisty ties from my star wars action figues, and I write down the proof of purchase number. I used to keep the front plastic parts, but they take up too much space. I have to open new action figures with my pocket knife to avoid ripping too much paper off the card. I also ask for doubles so I can open one and stick the other to my wall. I keep all the plastic covers that my star wars magazines come in and try to open them without ripping them too much. I keep all the pages from any day by day calendar I get. In fact, I have all my old calendars. I have lots of my old clothes that I think look pretty even though they don't fit and I don't want to get rid of them. (do I sound more like a pack rat? )When I get a new jigsaw puzzle no one is allowed to help me finish it. Ever. I recently got a pack of candy that I haven't had in forever (about 9 years - close enough); when I finished it I taped the wrappers in my scrapbook. When I write, all my o's and a's and d's and such have to be closed! completely! If there's a gap, I go crazy until I fix it. I dust my posters. I'm a huge Weird Al Yankovic fan. That's definitely eccentric.

I was just poking around the site and found this thread. I figured, why not re-start an 8-years gone topic. In fact, I'll list that as my first eccentricity: exploring old discussion threads on the Blaylock website...and wondering what happened to the people who were there? I see these names, and they haven't posted anything for, say, 8 years, and I wonder what happened: did their personalities change? Did they run out of free time? Did they get distracted...in a big way?Another: a serious weakness for BBC comedies of the 70s and 80s.My wife & I name our cars: the last one was Eeyore.Kept my hair long until even I couldn't ignore the massive thinning. That eccentricty has passed.Saving ticket stubs: I have stubs for almost every rock concert I ever went to, plus some from University of Oregon games (one from a 1981 basketball game), and even a few movies.OK, that's enough. Or too much. Anyone else with me on reviving this thread?

Reading over what I just posted, I see that most of my eccentricities are not particularly Blaylockian. Except maybe the one about exploring the Blaylock website. I'll have to work on that. Developing appropriate eccentricities: a new hobby. Although I suppose if you develop them they're kind of self-consciously eccentric, and then perhaps don't count. I could go on. Perhaps that's my eccentricity.

The subject of eccentricity reminded me of a bit of dialogue in Donald Jack's novel It's Me Again between a General and Bartholomew Bandy (actually Bandy is rather eccentric, despite his protests):

"You have many flaws, of course. But in the–”“Flaws? What flaws? I haven’t any flaws.”“Obsessiveness, arrogance, narrow- mindedness–”“Oh, those flaws.”“Blind stubbornness, vindictiveness, deceit, disobedience, eccentricity–”“Eccentricity? I think I resent that.”